1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wire protective member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-353432 discloses at least one wire laid in an automotive vehicle or the like with a corrugated tube as an external protective member to protect the wire from friction with members near the wire. The wire is inserted through a longitudinal slit in the corrugated tube. A tape is wrapped around the wire to facilitate insertion into the corrugated tube and to protect the wire from friction with the inner wall of the corrugated tube. Tape then is wrapped around the corrugated tube to prevent the slit from opening, for example, when the corrugated tube is bent.
Accordingly, production of a wire in a corrugated tube requires: wrapping tape around the wire; inserting the wire into the corrugated tube; and winding a tape to prevent the corrugated tube from opening. This production is expensive due to required time and effort and a large number of parts.
A take-up rate of the wire in the corrugated tube is restricted to prevent the wire from coming out of the corrugated tube. However, a space is present between the wire and the corrugated tube and the restriction on the take-up rate of the wire is a hindrance to space saving.
Members arranged around the wire include a member formed by bending a metal base plate having a developed shape of the member. The base plate is obtained by punching out the metal plate or cutting the metal plate using a cutting tool. A base plate formed with a cutting tool has a cutting cross section extended in a cutting direction due to metal ductility and small burrs may be formed in a relative wide area. A base plate formed by punching out the metal plate may have long narrow projecting burrs. These burrs may contact and abrade the wire protective member.
The prevent invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to provide a wire protective member and a covering method which requires reduced time and effort for a mounting operation on a wire and a reduced number of parts, is space saving and has improved abrasion resistance.